Flexible panel



Nav. 13, 1928.

F. B. HARMAN FLEXIBLE PANEL Filed .my ze, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 f/llllllllll",

llllllllllll'? Nov. 13, 1928. 1,691,604 l i F. B. HARMAN FLEXIBLE PANEL l Fiied July 26. 1925 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented Nov. 13, 1928. l

i UNITED; STATES FRANK B. HARMAN, or KENosHA,wiscoNsIN, AssIGNo'RTo SIMMONS COMPANY', oF-

item04.

PATENT; OFFICE v,

x'ENosHA, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OFY'DELAWARE. y j

' FLEXIBLE PANEL.

Application led July 26,

' .to Vprovide a panel which may beconveniently assembled in or removed vfrom an outer enclosing or supporting skeleton frame; to provide aconstructionwhere'in the flexible panel-forming material or sheet may be quickly and economically secured imposition or removed in the event of defects or deterioration due to long continued wear or other causes; to provide a panel constructionof the class described in which the pressure imposed .upon the surface of the panel sheet,', for, ex-A ample,in the case of a chairA seat, is supported upon portions of the outer enclosing framework without having to depend upon screws or othernadjustable'securing devices; to provide a construction which shall be simple and economical to manufacture, while being neat in appearance and rugged and efficient in service and in general to provide an improved flexible panel construction of the character referred to. y.

In the drawings which describe my invention as applied to the seat of a small chair,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the seat assembly.

Fig. 2 is a sectiontaken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

F Fig. 3 is an enlargement of a portion of Fig 4 is a front elevation of the chair equipped with the seat assembly shown in Fig. 1, and

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of said chair.

Referring to the drawings, 10, 10 indicate the front legs of the chair and 11, 11, the back legs which are continued upwardly forming extensions 12 constituting side framev members for the chair back. Each front leg 10 is connected to the corresponding back leg 11 near the floor by means of tie bars as at 13, and said tie bars 13 are connected at their middle points by means of a transverse cross bar 14.

At their upper ends the four legs 10, 10 and 11, 11 are connected together by a pair of rectangular side members 15 and a pair of similarly shaped cross members 16. All of the above described frame members are constructed of tubular metal, preferably of the 1923. Serial No. 653,843'.

continuouswall type, for example, electri. Y

cally butt-Welded li hty steel tubing. The chair seat assemblylesignated as a whole 17, is secured directly to the supporting framework composed of legs, 10,10, 11, l1 and connecting members 15, 15 and 16, 16, by means of welding, brazing or by an other convenient method. The said pane assembly, to which my invention particularly relates, will now be described in detail. e l

The outer frame of the seat, as shown best ink Fig. 2, is made of metallic tubing which is so shaped in cross section as to provide an upper horizontal wall 18, an outer vvertical end wall 19, an inner lvertical end wall 2() and a lower horizontal wall 21, said fourA walls Vconstitutin in effect the rectangular portion of the tu ing.V In order to form an inwardly extending horizontal flange at the lower inner edge 0I said hollow frame member,rdesignated as alwhole 22, the innermargin of the lower wall 21 is extended inward-v ly and the lower margin of wall 20 isbcnt 'outwardly so as to'overlie the extended portion of wall 21 and constitute therewith a vtwo-ply extension. Recent developments in weight thereof is sustained upon the inward-r ly extending two-ply flange 23.

In the present instance the flexible panel sheet material comprises a sheet 24, woven from narrow strips of split cane in theusual manner. The outer margin of said sheet of cane 24 is folded as indicated at 25 around the upper edge 26 of a skeleton enclosure or frame 27, said enclosure having in cross section the shape of a U so as tovform an outwardly facin groove I28 for receiving the filler 29 whic serves to hold thecane in place. Said filler or wedge 29 comprises a strip of somewhat elastic or flexible material such as soft spruce wood and I insert it into the groove or channel of the member 27 after the margin 25 of the cane has been folded over the upper flange 26 ofthe channel.

The channel member 27 is continuous and $:Shaped frame member' -27 by wedges 29 and the corners being mitered together and united by a suitable Ineans such as brazlng or welding. The construction of said frame 27 constitutes agrather important feature of my ingin of the cane sheetfmay be bent, thereby preventing damage'to the strands of the cane by-V cutting.

The inner panel comprising the panel sheet W is enclosed and secured in theichannelis inserted into the outer frame 22 from above and rests directly upon the inwardly extending and supporting two-ply ilange 23.- In order to prevent upward displacement of the panel from its supporting frame, I preferto employ securing means which, in the presentexample, take the form of 'aplurality of round head machine screws 33 threaded into the bottom flange Ilvr of the-channel 27 and also into the wood Wedges 29. vCircular washers 35, interposed between the heads of screws 33 and the underside of flange 23' ren'- 1,691,604 y l i Y der said screws eifective to prevent such upward movement ofthe panel relativev to the flange 23.

The described details of construction being merely illustrative of a single phase of'my in? vention, theiscope of'same should be deter- `rained b reference to the appended claim, said claim being construed as broadly as possible, consistent with the state. of the art.

I claim asmy invention:

In an article of the class ldescribed, the combination of a supporting frame havingan inwardly projectingseat flange adjacent its:`

lower edge7 and a panel removably seated-on said flange and surrounded by said. support- 1' ing frame, and having its outer edge con;k cealed by saidsurroundlng frame,sa1ld panel comprising amarginal frame having sidel memberswhich are U-shaped in cross section and Vwhich are, 'arranged so as to 'face out-` wardlywith theirside walls disposed in sub-1v stantiallyV horizontal planes one Aabove Ythe other, a flexible pan-elsheet stretched over said frame andbetween opposite "side portions thereof and having a marginal portion folded` downwardly over the outer edge and inwardly i under the bottom face of the top lwall portifoin and-a filler strip inserted between said si'c'leA4 Walls for wedginglyholding sheetsV in place. Y

f 1= ,FRANK 

